Brennan and Visma | Lease a Bikeās Kuurne story is even more special than you might think
CyclingMonday, 02 March 2026 at 08:56
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Follow us on GoogleMatthew Brennan arguably shouldnāt have been able to start KuurneāBrusselsāKuurne at all ā but the fact the 20-year-old Briton rides for Visma | Lease a Bike made one thing clear on Sunday: heās made of tough stuff. After crashing heavily in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad just 24 hours earlier, Brennan still lined up in Kortrijk battered and bruised ā and then went on to win. The rest is history.
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Brennan hit the deck in the finale of Omloop on Saturday and didnāt finish the race. The medical verdict afterwards was blunt: scrapes and bruises. In the mixed zone before KuurneāBrusselsāKuurne, Brennan played it down. He didnāt reveal too much, but admitted the crash had been hard and that he was in plenty of pain. He also spoke about nerves.
Sports director Maarten Wynants saw Brennan on the massage table on Saturday evening and feared the worst, but the main man already had his mind on the next race. āI wanted to forget the day, because there was a lot of frustration ā and that also led to the crash,ā the stage winner said at the press conference to IDLProCycling.com. āI was lucky with how I came out of it, with only a few scrapes and bruises.ā
āCrashing at 60 km/h (around 37 mph) isnāt nice ā especially when you realise you have to go back into that same chaos a day later,ā Brennan laughed. Yet he did exactly that. āMentally we switched and started thinking about how we would approach KuurneāBrusselsāKuurne. Iām quite analytical, and sometimes itās easy to improve things. I can bring that across to the team.ā
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Brennan had to grit his teeth at a crucial moment in KuurneāBrusselsāKuurne
It sounds simple, but Brennan admitted he didnāt feel comfortable throughout KuurneāBrusselsāKuurne. āMy whole left side is quite swollen, so especially on the cobbles that wasnāt nice,ā he said. āBut mentally ā with positioning ā it was madness anyway. I saw so many near-crashes. Thatās also why I missed the move halfway through the race for a moment.ā Teammate Pietro Mattio brought Brennan back.
From there, Visma | Lease a Bike barely left the front. āWe had the chance to take control and I felt good,ā Brennan explained. āWe could throw a few fast guys overboard and that would help us for the finish. We went all-in and wanted to hurt the other teams. That put us in a situation where we could finish it off.ā
In his first interview after the finish, Brennan also praised his lead-out ā which, in his words, made it almost impossible to get wrong. āEveryone did their job brilliantly. Laporte did such a good lead-out that I basically only had to do the easy part in the last few hundred metres.ā
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Brennan shrugs off pressure and comparisons
Itās a great story ā and one thatās only just being written. Where are Brennanās limits? The Briton wants to find out too. āIād love to do MilanāSan Remo, the Tour of Flanders and ParisāRoubaix in good shape, but 200 guys in the peloton will want that,ā he said. āIāll also do GentāWevelgem. As a team we want to get the best out of ourselves in every race. Weāre chasing results.ā
Winning the biggest Classics is the dream, but Brennan stressed the importance of patience and consistency. Comparisons with Wout van Aert? āNice,ā but nothing more than that. āIf I can even head in the direction of that kind of career, Iād be super happy. Wout helps me a lot ā heās a really good guy. Heās very personal and never acts too big to help. A really great teammate.ā
āI donāt feel any pressure from the team,ā Brennan added. āI know my limits and the team knows them too. Based on that you can plan things, but itās still cycling. In the end, itās the work as a team that determines whether you can win or not. Thereās a really relaxed and welcoming atmosphere here ā nobody takes things personally. We want to improve together. Thatās what itās about.ā
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Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief
Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.
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- - Feels like the jury punished the outcome, not the action. Happens too often in chaotic finishes. Still, riders know the āhold your lineā mantraāmargins are razor thin.bikebuffj17-07-2026
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- - Grande artĆculo, pero me parece raro que no mencionen mĆ”s a Lipowitz. El tipo estĆ” a38 del podio y sube mejor en etapas largas. Vamos Juan, pero ojo con Flo!sprocketspiny17-07-2026
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